Native Yoga Toddcast

Sandhya Balakrishnan ~ Yoga's Ancient Wisdom: How Yama and Niyama Can Transform Your Life

• Todd Mclaughlin • Season 1 • Episode 200

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In this milestone 200th episode, Todd connects with Sandhya Balakrishnan, a distinguished yoga instructor from Bangalore, India, who shares her journey from corporate life to dedicating her career to yoga. This profound conversation explores the impact of yoga beyond the physicality of asanas, diving into the wholeness of yoga as a lifestyle and philosophy. With her dynamic background, Sandhya enriches the discussion by emphasizing yoga's foundational aspects such as mindfulness, breathing, and ethical practices.

Follow Sandhya on IG: https://www.instagram.com/the.yogini.project/?hl=en
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the.yogini.project

Key Takeaways:

  • Yoga Beyond Physicality: Sandhya emphasizes that yoga is not limited to complex asanas, but includes understanding and practicing ethical principles like Yama and Niyama.
  • Yoga’s Holistic Approach: The practice incorporates more than physical posture; it includes dietary mindfulness, self-regulation, and listening to one's body.
  • Pursuing Passion Professionally: Transitioning from a corporate career to teaching yoga requires meticulous planning and genuine calling.


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Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast, so happy you are here. My goal with this channel is to bring inspirational speakers to the mic in the field of yoga, massage, body work and beyond. Follow us at @nativeyoga and check us out at nativeyogacenter.com. All right, let's begin. Hello, I am so happy you're here. Welcome to Native YogaToddcast. My name is Todd McLaughlin. I have a very special guest today for episode number 200. Yeah! Her name is Sandhya Balakrishnan. Her Instagram handle is at@the.yogini.project, and you can find her also on YouTube under the same name, and she is in Bangalore, India. She is a yoga teacher and really down to earth. And I can't wait for you to hear her perspective on yoga. It's just so honest and real. Oh my gosh, Sandhya, thank you so much. What a pleasure it was. I'm so inspired right now, and I can't wait for you to hear this episode, and for your support to hit episode number 200 it's been a little over four years now. I'm just excited to celebrate here with you and Sandhya, let's begin. I'm so happy to have this opportunity to meet Sandhya. Balakrishnan, Sandhya, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be a guest on the show. How are you feeling today? Todd, first of all, thank you so much for having me on your podcast. And as we were speaking earlier, this is episode number 200 for you. And congratulations on that. I feel really lucky to be a part of the podcast series that you're doing, and I'm happy to be number 200 for this episode. Thank you so much. Yeah, doing really well, and I'm really glad that we were able to meet through Instagram. And it's really incredible how we are on two different sides of the planet, literally with two very different time zones, and somehow the algorithm matched us, and we were able to come to this conversation today and share our thoughts about yoga, movement and all things related to these disciplines. Very happy to be here. Oh, thank you. I It is quite amazing that we can connect this way. I am a fan of technology, and I agree with you. What an amazing chance to be able to meet people on the other side of the planet. This would never, ha, would have happened. Well, gosh, not even that long ago. Like, what? 30 years, 20 years wouldn't have happened. Maybe, yeah, yeah. Well, on that note, Sanjaya, I'm so curious. You know, how did you first get involved in yoga practice? You, you're, you were born and raised in India? Yes, yeah, that's right. So Todd, I have spent my entire life in India, but I have had the chance to visit a few countries outside of here, and I've had the chance to be exposed to multiple cultures outside of India, and those are experiences that I really value, but the experiences that really shaped me to the person I am today came from my upbringing in various parts of the country, mostly towards the western parts of the country. I've also lived in the northern part of the country for a bit, and currently I'm settled in a city called Bangalore, which is in southern India. And my first introduction to yoga was around the age of 10, if I remember correctly. So as a child, I was suffering from chronic asthma. I used to have several episodes in a year where I would be out of breath, I would be in a lot of pain and discomfort and medical wisdom at that time, which was say two, two and a half decades earlier, did not really warrant the use of inhalers as frequently for children. And I know this because asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory issues. Because they typically tend to run in the families. And my daughter, she also has her fair share of issues with, you know, bronchitis because it comes from the family. Yes. Now, until the age of 10, I went through, you know, several episodes a year, suffering and being extremely uncomfortable, not being able to play much, not being able to enjoy sports as much, until my pediatrician once recommended to my parents that I should perhaps try yoga. And we were in a city called Pune at the time, which is in the western part of the country, and this is also the city where Sri BKs Iyengar has a huge institution. Of course, I didn't have the chance to study in that institution at that early in age, but there was a smaller studio that was run by a really wonderful lady who had learnt under Sri ayangarh himself, and she was the one who first introduced me to some of the basics in terms of asana practice and a very brief introduction to pranayama as well. And there were two things that really struck me from my first exposure to yoga at the age of 10, the first one being that after every class, I would somehow end up feeling this profound sense of peace and calm, which I couldn't explain at the time. It was a very, very beautiful feeling of absolute clarity and peace. And it was wonderful as a 10 year old to be able to feel something like that. Of course, I didn't have the words to articulate it back then, and the second feeling was a gradual improvement in my condition, in fact, over the years. So I ended up practicing with that studio only for about a year, and then we had to move cities and so on. But through that brief exposure to asana practice and some basics of pranayama practice, I found that actually my condition dramatically improved, and I went from having several episodes of asthma in a year to perhaps one one in, say, two years, and those episodes were manageable. So I think, in essence, what the practice led to was strengthening of my lungs, improvement of my cardiovascular endurance, in a sense, and definitely the ability to be able to regulate my breathing better. So that was my very first exposure to yoga at a very age. Amazing. Yeah, you know, my daughter, my daughter is 11, and she has asthma, and so it's really interesting to hear your perspective from from that age and what that's like. I'm curious. Do you, do you have any bouts of it now? Or is it something that was like childhood and you grew out of it? You know, I'm really going to say touch wood on this one, because I can't honestly remember the last time I had an episode. Very cool. It's been really long time. I think it was about four or five years ago, perhaps, yeah, it's been a very, very long time. Amazing. Are you able? Are you able to teach your daughter any methods or techniques that you found is helping her? Currently, I have taught her myself. In fact, she is very happy to sometimes come along when I'm conducting a yoga class in this very room, and she's able to do surya namaskar on her own. And I'm very happy that her school also has yoga as part of their curriculum. It's part of the the academic you know, the syllabus that they have. And her condition has improved dramatically from when she was a child, and I'm expecting further improvement as she grows a little older. So she's eight now, and I'm assuming by the time she's 1112, ish, there will be a little more improvement in the condition as she ages. Nice. What, uh, what types of yoga Have you learned over the years? It sounds like you add exposure to a younger method, have you? And you've traveled extensively, obviously around India, and you said, also globally, what type of yoga practices have you been attracted to? Well, that's a really interesting question, because after my first exposure to yoga around the age of 10, my second exposure came around the time I was 16, I think 16 or 17 years old, and this was towards the end of what we in India refer to as class 12, or grade 12. And it's, it's a sort. Of the last point before we enter college. So post grade 12 is when we then enter college for further education. And that examination is really critical because of the intensely competitive environment in the country. And you know, I was very keen to do well in that exam so that I would have brighter chances of going to a really, you know, good college, yes. And what ended up happening was I spent that entire year studying, sitting and studying being very sedentary, not being very mindful about the food that I ate. And as a result, I ended up putting on a considerable amount of weight. And at that time, you know, I was keen to explore yoga again, to see if there would be any improvement in my current state with yoga. And I was exposed to a studio which was run by teachers who had learned from Kaivalya Dham. And Kaivalya Dham is another very, very well known institution in the western part of the country, and their style is more Hatta. So their style is more longer Asana holds, you know, go at your own pace. There's no vinyasa flow, really, but it's more about exploring each Asana on its own. Go at your own pace. Very long holes followed by nice, long shavasanas. You know, yes, relatively more peaceful environment, yeah. And that was the style I think that I got most drawn towards, because at that time, all I needed was a reconnection back to my own self and a reconnection back to mindful eating habits, mindful movement habits, and that practice enabled me to become really, really aware of all of the habits that I needed to change in terms of my own nutrition And in terms of movement, and I say this to in fact, there is some content I've put out on Instagram on this very topic, but I will also mention this right here, please. Over the last 2025, years, I have pretty much eaten in the same way, or rather the amount of food that I have consumed on a daily basis has pretty much remained the same, and my weight has, you know, rarely fluctuated over two or three kilos plus minus, barring the phase where I was pregnant with my daughter, and even then, I had put on only the requisite amount of weight. So my weight was always in check because of these mindful eating habits that I was able to develop at that young and age, through exposure, through to the heart of style of yoga. And my my blood markers are great. You know, I keep getting my health checkups done once every year, and my blood markers come out great and as a woman, another great indicator of overall health is the regularity of our cycles. And my cycles have been more reliable than any clock or calendar in the house. So my cycles have always been very reliable, and I credit all of this to the principles of hatha yoga. And it's not so much the asana practice that's important. It's the practice of it's literally the essence of the word yoga. Yoga, you know, as we all know, comes from the Sanskrit root word huge, which means union. And this is not so much union with the Divine Self. You know, the divine self comes much later. Whether there is a divine power up there or not. We are, we are all exploring. I don't think any of us has clear answers on that, yeah, but at least to be able to connect deeply with your own self, to be able to listen to your body's signals, to eat only when you're hungry, to stop when you're full, to eat what works best for your body? I think that is one of the biggest learnings that I've had from my exposure to Hatha Yoga back then. And Hatha is something that I always treat as the foundation of everything that I do, not just from a from a student perspective, but also from a teacher's perspective. So it's literally at the foundation of whatever I do. And in today's world, I think a lot of people do face similar issues where they are not able to understand how to listen to their own bodies, how to honor their own needs, both from a physical and a mental perspective. And my endeavor as a teacher is to try and help them. To reach a point where they're able to take a step back and listen to what their body is telling them, or what their mind is telling them, slow down a little bit, and then make whatever changes they need to so as to achieve a balanced state in life. So I hope that answers your question that's slightly longer, but please, please. I like the long answers. Thank you, Sandhya, that's really amazing. I think you're right. That their relationship to food and our ability to to actually listen to the body seems like a really important part. Do you do you feel like there's a slight over emphasis on the asana component? Or do you think that the over emphasis on the asana eventually will lead one to having this sort of self regulation and or insight to learn that. Do you feel like eventually that would come? You know, this is by far one of the the most interesting things that I like to talk about in yoga. You open your phone and you look at any social media app today, you'll most likely be bombarded with images of people performing very complex postures with their bodies, and claiming it to be yoga, and somehow implying that that is the essence of yoga, or that is what yoga is. And then you will find a lot of people arguing and debating about which style of asana practice is better. There will be some folks who are who lean more towards one style of practice, and then they tend to develop a sense of superiority or supremacy about that practice. They tend to develop a sense of attachment towards that practice, which then leads them to discredit what others are doing, which you know, sometimes leads them to behave in ways that makes other folks feel like they're not included, or that they're not enough well, sir and all of this. So for example, you know folks who have a certain type of anatomy or a certain type of history in in say dance or gymnastics or athletics, are naturally able to perform some of the Yoga Asanas much better than others. But then that really leaves out the majority of the people out there who may not have had the exposure to say, dance or gymnastics or athletics, or who may not be naturally blessed with hypermobile joints or naturally flexible spines. And when people like that look at images of folks doing asana and then calling it yoga. It's a very limiting view of yoga. In my opinion, there's so much more to yoga than the asana practice. In fact, Asana, and I'm sure you know this from your own rich experience of teaching and learning, right when we speak of the eight limbs of yoga, the first two are the ones that people have sort of stopped talking about, the Yama and the Niyama. Good point. They stopped talking about it's a good point. They've stopped talking about it. There is no Niyama, right? And it's really unfortunate, they quickly jump on to Asana, which is limb number three. It's not even one or two, it's limb number three. And then there's more after that, right? And currently, Asana is glorified as the single solution to all problems in life. But take a moment. Let's consider the Yama and the Niyama, right? So you have one of the the Yamas as as aparigraha or non hoarding. I hope I'm remembering it right. So non hoarding, right? Non accumulation, non excess accumulation of possessions, okay, but look around you and see what's happening. People are excessively accumulating things, objects, great point. They're excessively accumulating clothes, shoes, bags, you know, jewelry, excessive consumption of content on OTT media on social media, excessive consumption of food in general, and excessive consumption of junk food in general. Right? A great group, yes, and here, there are certain schools of yoga that are trying to solve these problems with a limited asana practice. Do you really think Asana is the solution to solving a problem that actually exists somewhere else? How do you stop yourself? How do you even recognize that you're actually hoarding things? Okay, that's one example. Another example is that's a good one. I love that. I love that I gotta stop you for one second, because every time I've heard of a pada Graha in relation to like, non hoarding, non greed or accumulation. I like that you've made the connection point to accumulation of even consumption, of social media consumption, and then even making the connection with food too. Because often, like you, we think like, oh, I should, if I'm not going to be greedy. And they're like, Okay, I'm not going to try to get the new car or the bigger house or the whatever else, but making that extra jump over toward accumulation in relation to every little bit of energy that comes in, whether it's food or visual or audio or what our senses are. So that's that's really cool, Sanja, but I don't want to interrupt you, but keep please, keep going. That's great. No, I'm glad you like this way of thinking, because this is exactly how I think about yoga, right? And I'll just take one other example from the from the Yama Niyama. There's something known as shout or cleanliness, okay? Now, the traditional interpretation of cleanliness is cleanliness of the surroundings, but you could extend it to mean cleanliness of your own body. What what you put inside? Okay, so if you put junk inside, if you're going to put unclean stuff into your body time and time again, it kind of violates the the principle of church or cleanliness, correct? Yes, and these are things which cannot be solved with Asana alone. Now. But having said that, Asana is a great introduction to the practice, it's a great introduction to yoga, or a yogic way of living. But what we need are teachers who are able to extend yoga beyond asanas. You know? What we need are teachers who are able to actually bring these perspectives to their students. Yes, because otherwise it's there's a lot of disconnect, you know. And even when we speak of asanas, there's a certain belief that certain asanas are advanced, or certain asanas are beginner asanas. Let me give you a few, you know, examples here. So today, in one of my classes, in the morning, I was helping my students do the shirishasana, or the headstand. Right? It's a fairly complicated, very layered posture to achieve, with its own inherent set of risks, and it's also very difficult to, you know, help people do it in an online environment, in a very inclusive way. But when I approached it, I was very clear in telling my students that, you know what, there's a general belief that this is supposed to be the quote, unquote, king of asanas, but that is at the risk of sounding arrogant, that is ridiculous. That is ridiculous. Why would you call a certain posture as the king of asanas and give it that you know, put it up on a pedestal like that. Yeah, it makes no sense. If great points a student of mine is unable to do the headstand, but she is able to be a kind and compassionate and a generous person in her day to day life, if she is able to perform her Dharma with the utmost sincerity, if she is able to do her you know, if she is able to Be mindful of her surroundings, mindful of people around her, and just because she's not able to perform the Shirish Asana, does that make her a bad yogi? I mean, of course not. So I told them very clearly that there are all these names that are given to asanas. There are all these labels that are given to asanas, which are which are unfortunate, and they're very limiting and they're ridiculous. You cannot call a certain posture as the king of asanas, because if someone's not able to do it, then that person ends up feeling inadequate, insecure. You. Uh, non validated. And is that what you want people to feel at the end of a yoga class? Absolutely not. I definitely don't want my students feeling inadequate about their capability of performing a certain physical posture. You know, I want them to feel like they tried. I want and the word Hata itself means effort. Hata means effort. I want them to feel like they put in the best efforts that they could, and that they gave it their best shot during that class, and hopefully, you know, in the next class, or whenever we do it next day, be able to understand it better. Maybe get better at it. Maybe not get better at it. It's okay. All that matters is effort. Yes, you know, yes. And when we speak of Asana, also the stuff that we see on social media, let's take another example of yoga, nidrasana, the leg behind the head posture I fail to understand how in today's world where so many people are stuck in sedentary jobs, where they are sitting on their chairs for more than 1012, hours a day, and these are people who cannot perform A regular, simple, deep squat. They can't squat down. Their hips are not strong enough. Their legs are not strong enough. The knee joints are not capable enough of holding a deep squat position. And then you're showing them. You're bombarding them with images of these, these people with dance backgrounds, gymnastics backgrounds, you know, and people coming from certain lineages of schools and effortlessly doing the yoga nidrasana and and implying that it is, it's something to be achieved. I'm sorry, yoganadrasana has no functional benefit in day to day life. Let me be very honest about it. There's no functional benefit of the yoga asana in day to day life, yes, but there is a lot of functional benefit of a simple Malasana or a deep squat. So when people are entering yoga, do you want them to enter thinking that, Oh, my God, someday I want to be able to do the yoga nidrasana, and perhaps they might never be able to do the yoganadrasana, and then they end up feeling really inadequate at the end of their lives. I'm sorry that is not the way I look at asana practice. So therefore, to the I mean the long answer to your question is asana practice is very limiting. We need to be speaking more about the Yamas, the niyamas, and the other limbs that follow Asana. So your pratyahara withdrawal of the senses, you know, dharana, dhyana, I think we are, we are talking very less of this and a lot about Asana without looking at, you know, ethics and social conduct, Ahimsa, asteya, even the whole principle of Ahimsa or non violence, is not just about not killing. You know things or you know living beings. It's not, it's it doesn't relate to killing, really. It relates to violence of any form. And when you are forcing your body to do a Shirish Asana or a yoga nidra Sana, at a time when you are not physically or emotionally capable of doing it, you're subjecting yourself to violence, and there's no need to do it. The founding principles never really spoke about this kind of violence. It's always thiram sukhama sanam, right? In order to enter a meditative state, any posture is is fine wherever you're sitting in a stable and happy state. Patanjali said this, right? Stiram, sukham Asana. Asana is any posture where you're I could be sitting right here on this chair, and I'm comfortable, and I'm able to close my eyes, I'm able to concentrate on a certain point, and I'm able to achieve a brief but blissful state. And I may not be in padmasana, but that's okay, you know, yes, so that's, that's my view on Asana. I'm so thank you, thankful that you're bringing this to the forefront, because I think it's really important today to hear this message Sandhya, because there's so much going on. And just in relation to the yoga world, it is like we're seeing this really come to light now, especially as I'm getting older and the more I'm speaking with practitioners that have been with yoga for 20, 3040, years, and and starting to understand that it's not just about the body and all these positions and even looking at like, Well, I've been doing yoga nidrasana for 20 years, and now I can't walk or my back is messed up. Right? And you kind of look back and go, Wow, here all this time. I just thought that if I was doing yoga, everything would just work out just perfectly. I wasn't really listening to my body at the time. It hurt like crazy. But I just thought that if I kept doing it, this is what I was supposed to be doing, and there's a little bit of a disconnect. There's not that real deep connection like what you're speaking of. So I think this is a really important conversation to have, and I'm really glad you're bringing it to this point. And I can I ask you a little then, because, in relation to the fourth Yama, Brahmacharya, Brahmacharya, can you explain a little bit from your perspective, from, you know, the cultural aspect in India. And because a lot of times I feel like Westerners have a hard time grappling with this one. And I know, from what I understand, if we break the words down, like Brahma, referencing the god or deity of this is creation correct? And then Acharya is like a chariot or a vehicle, so maybe the vehicle of Brahma. And then, from what I understand, in relation to, like, a lot of times in the West, we'll hear celibacy, you know, and then, and I understand, like in in Indian culture, there's, please correct me, because I want to understand Indian culture, is that, like, obviously, from ages zero to 13, or from the time that we are married, or perhaps becoming a householder or a parent, we should be celibate. And I think that's absolutely true. And I think this is a perfect thing in relation to people where they, you know, are wondering, like, how should we have conduct with children and adults? Well, yeah, it's very clear, you as a child, that's special, and you don't, you don't violate that, right? So I guess I'd just love to hear your take on how that has evolved for you in your life, and your understanding of it, especially being a mom too. Okay, great, that's really interesting question, and I'll try and give my perspective on it. So Brahmacharya means abstinence or celibacy, okay, but both terms, if viewed independently, have different degrees of control. So abstinence is is a little more control. Celibacy is a complete stop to sexual activities, you know, at at the inappropriate time. Now, in the Indian tradition, there are, there are certain aspects of spirituality that are talked about in connection to preservation of sexual energy. Alright? So it is believed in certain sections of the Indian culture that if you abstain from sexual activity for long enough, you will end up preserving your sexual energy, which will then perhaps help you to attain greater heights of spirituality much faster. So there is this certain belief that exists in certain sections of the society. But having said that, not all of us need to do it, not all of us have the in fact, I would say not all of us are destined for that spiritual path. You know, not all of us are destined to reach spirituality, or, you know, the higher forms of peace, etc, from that part. So not all of us are meant to do it that way. For most of us, we are meant to go through life. We go meant to go through the motions of life, and we are meant to perform our duties in the marital environment. We are meant to perform our duties in the parental environment, and that's where Brahmacharya takes a very unique role. So essentially, it means that you know you understand sexuality well in your teenage years, and you understand how to regulate your urges and how to be mindful about engaging in sexual activity in your in your youth, before you get married, you be very mindful and respectful about it. But when you do enter the institution of marriage, you must be very, very, very, very aware of your role as a spouse and of your role as a parent. Eventually, if you choose to become a parent and there your abstinence will only be in relation to being faithful to your partner, you know, to not exploring your sexuality outside of the realm of the marital institution that you have entered. And I think there's merit in. Understanding celibacy, understanding abstinence, like this, because, you know, for a household to function peacefully and for a household to thrive, there has to be a great degree of mutual respect between both partners, correct? And a lot of that, a lot of that respect also has to do in terms of, you know, the kind of sexual activities or the sexual urges that the partners may experience from time to time, and often, there might be a an imbalance in the frequency or the intensity of urges of the partners, but as long as the partners have respect for each other and they are able to stay committed only to each other and to not explore these urges outside of the institution of marriage, it leads to a stable family, a peaceful environment and a great place for children to grow up and thrive with the right values in place. So that's the way I look at Brahmacharya. Yeah? Well said, Yeah, an absolute celibacy. I think, you know, the people who choose to become monks or priests are expected to take on vows of celibacy because they've chosen a certain very rigorous path of spiritual enlightenment. And I think those people have a have a far more strict set of regulations to follow, but for the rest of us, I think we are all still yogis if we are able to be if we are able to abstain within the realms and the limitations of the institution of marriage that we enter, yeah, should we choose to enter marriage? So that's raw material form. Yeah, that's a really good answer. Thank you for because I feel like it's a subject that sometimes people get a little squeamish about. But I feel like if we just address and talk about it, in an adult like fashion, it makes a lot of sense. Yeah, and family values are so important, you know, good, strong family values and holding the family together like this, oh my gosh. I agree with you 100% Yeah, you know you are, from what I understand from following you. You had a career in, you know, like a very demanding career path, and then you became, or chose to become, a yoga teacher. Can you speak a little bit about your journey from the corporate environment to to the to the current role that you play as a professional yoga teacher? Sure, I I think that's that's an interesting question, because I do get a lot of people around me asking me about how and why I made the switch, and I'll try and answer both aspects of it. So while I was growing up, I was led to believe that the only way to be financially independent was to study really well and get a great job in a in a reputed corporate organization. And this is the belief system that a lot of my my friends and peers and contemporaries also grew up with because we all belonged to a generation where we were being brought up in an environment where there was extreme competition. Resources were scarce, and we were told that the only way to be financially secure and to build a good financial foundation for your future generation, was to do this. And so a lot of us ended up doing this. A lot of us ended up studying really well, working really hard. And honestly, I'm very grateful that I grew up like this, because a strong academic foundation is timeless. You know, there's nothing that beats a strong academic foundation, the ability to think critically, the ability to to explore different subjects in school and college. So I think my my parents did a fantastic job in raising me in a way to be academically sound, academically curious, and I took on a corporate job at a very early age, right out of college, and I worked for a total of 15 years across various organizations. And these were all really, really great names in the world of consumer products, retail, media and E commerce, and these were really great organized these are really great organizations that are doing some really good work in their respective fields. And I'm really, really grateful because for those 15 years, I developed skill sets, which I. Otherwise never would have, and specifically skill sets pertaining to the sales and marketing arenas. Because I now realize, as a yoga professional, you know, as a teacher and as an entrepreneur trying to build a name in this field, that one does need to have a little bit of background in sales and marketing to be able to navigate this new age world of yoga, right? Yes, I'm very grateful that for those 15 years, I ended up developing the skill sets in sales and the skill sets in marketing, and I made the switch how? Because, or rather, I made the switch. Why? Because I was feeling like my jobs lacked a sense of deeper meaning and purpose. You know, while it was, you know, while it was great that they exposed me to, you know, all of these new skill sets they granted me the privilege of developing some really good professional networks. And I'm really, really grateful to be able to have some very, very senior people in my professional network, even today, who I can just pick up the phone on and ask for help if I need to. I'm very, very privileged to be in that position, but at the end of the day, I felt like I needed to be doing something more meaningful and tangible to people around me, and that was the why behind the switch that I made, and now the how is more important. Yeah, a lot of people you know, in my circles and in general conversation, seem to be very unhappy with their jobs. You know, there's a general sense of discontentment with corporate jobs. Okay, I'm not sure if this is your experience, but at least from Yes, from my own experience, you've come across people who are generally discontented with Yeah. All we hear yeah, there's Yes, yes, corporate America, corporate work, or corporate world, is constantly we're hearing that that's a huge subject. Absolutely, I think, yeah. I feel like there's probably a few people, I mean, I meet a few people that are in corporate life that really love it, like they they're at the top of their game, yeah, and they're engaged, and they absolutely love it. But I would say a much larger proportion of people I hear and I speak with are more just like, I'm just going through the motions, I'm just showing up every day, and and, and a lot of like, there's a lot of job insecurity in the corporate world. From what I'm gathering from everybody, like it seemed initially like this was the one path, the golden path. I'm just going to become a corporate Pro. And now there's a lot of shake. There's a lot of ShakeDown going on, from what I understand speaking with folks so I hear, yeah, this is not just the end. I think there's a global element, the global thing. Yeah, so. So when you have a large chunk of people who are generally unhappy with the work that they're doing, the first instinct is for them to quit and do something else. So they either jump ship from one organization to another, or they will quit and try to figure out something in the non corporate environment. And in both instances, the chances of success are limited. So if you're if you don't have a plan in place, if you don't know why you're quitting your corporate job, and if you don't have a six month horizon or a one year horizon in place, it gets really hard, and then you're forced to jump back to a job that you really don't like to do. Now, in my case, I knew I had to move on, but I didn't have a plan in place for a very long time. So several years, I went to work, I did my job the best I could, and I made sure I, you know, gave my 100% to whatever was asked of me, and until I found my reason for quitting. I didn't quit, you know, I hung on and I tried to make the best of the situation that I had on hand, because it's work at the end of the day, it's, it's karma, right? And if you've been asked to do a certain job, you're, you might as well just go and do it the best you can, right? And then once you've logged off from work, then you can spend your time at home thinking about what it is that you would like to do if it was not this job. And so I spent several years doing that, and finally, in 2020 just before. The pandemic hit us, I did my teachers training course, and I did that with no clear agenda in mind. I just did it because I thought it would be a great certification to have, and to be very honest, I was approaching it as a CV point item, you know, something I can speak about in interviews, future job interviews, but when I actually did the TTC is when I realized that this was something that was far bigger than what it seemed at that point. It seemed so strong to me. I felt like I had to do something in that space. But even after that, I didn't quit my job. I continued working for another 18 months, 18 to 20 months after my TTC, and during that time, I was trying very hard to assess my financial situation, to assess whether we would be good to go, you know, with a certain disparity of incomes in the family, and whether we would be good with the sudden career switch and the new demands of my work. So my husband and I had several conversations about it. I had several conversations with my friends about it. I ran multiple spreadsheets on my own. I made sure that I was financially sound, you know, I made sure that I wouldn't be left with nothing to hold on to. Yes, and it's only then that I communicated to the organization that you know I'd really like to move on, because I feel like this is something I need to do. But if I had to go back in time and revisit that decision, would I make a different decision? Absolutely not. Yay. Very glad I did what I did. Yes, I'm very glad. I'm so happy. Yeah, that's amazing. Sandia, I very cool, very cool. And that was going to be my next question. So thank you for just like jumping right to it, because after you have a little bit of time after your crossover. So this was 15 years ago that you embarked on this journey. No, so I quit my job three years ago. You said 2020, and so I went back. I heard you say 50. Understood, so, and I worked for 15 years, so I've been working. Yeah, got it six, 202,021 Yeah. So are you teaching primarily on Zoom or a combo? I saw some of your Instagram is showing that you're conducting zoom classes. And then I noticed that you were teaching in a studio. What really cool photo I saw. A student looked like they were going for like, upli tihi, they had padmasana and maybe pushing down like you kind of had that joy of a yoga teacher, like a happy moment of like, how cool to be here with these folks and seeing them work so hard and wow, a very rewarding experience. So then what I can also gather, though, too, is that I'm seeing and I like the fact that you're coaching people and the reality of this, and not just kind of doing a dweepass your shots, a leg behind the head, corporate shift persona of like, Hey, look at me, you guys. I was a corporate person. I just switched over to yoga, and it's so much better and easier, and everything's great. You're being very honest and real and actually saying to people, whoa, whoa, whoa, if this is something you're serious about, you have to really take yoga seriously. And there's got to be like, a dedicated commitment before just jumping ship from corporate over to the dream, like we have a dream, and then we realize, well, the dream is a little more, a little more involving than I had planned for so I love hearing about your ability to kind of really strategize. I also agree and appreciate like you're utilizing the skills you were able to learn through your corporate life, and now that is playing a big part in your success as a independent yoga teacher profession. So that's that's super inspirational. Can you give another little I know we're getting close to our I know we scheduled an hour, and I'm already like, Oh my gosh. I have so many questions for you. How am I gonna squeeze them off? But I know we don't have to hurry, and we could pretend. Potentially do it. I'm sorry if my answers were really no. Are you kidding? And these are amazing. Oh, thank you so much, Sandia. So I mean, then I guess if you had to pick one nugget or tidbit or takeaway for advice, for those of us that are either thinking about doing what you did, making the jump, or those of us that are new in the game and going, how in the world am I going to pull this off, any little tidbit of advice? Well, I'm, yeah. Any new to the field myself, and I don't want to sound, you know, like I know too much, but I'll share whatever little I learned over the last three years or so. For those, for those of us who are thinking of making the switch from corporate to yoga, in particular, I think you have to be very, very strongly called to it, and that experience is is unmatched. So unless you feel a very strong calling to it, something that it doesn't seem forced. You know, it's a natural calling until that comes, I would say, not the best idea to come to yoga, simply because the demands of this profession are huge. So it is a very energy intensive profession. You know, on a day to day basis, when we are teaching our students, there is a there is a massive energy exchange that happens, right? And the more invested you are in your students growth and in their health and fitness, the more energy you're putting into the job. And you'll realize that you may sometimes not have adequate time for your own health goals, your fitness, and there's a lot of other things you will have to adjust in your day to day life. Also, it takes time and patience to build a community of students that understand your style of teaching, that resonate with you as a person, and you need to be very, very mature when you're dealing with different kinds of people from different backgrounds. You need to have an inherent sense of being open to meeting new people, whether it's in a digital environment like zoom or whether it's in person, and if you're somebody who's not very comfortable with interacting with people, then this profession becomes very difficult, because people are at the core of it. And if you're in it, to make a difference to people's lives, you have to be open to meeting people from all kinds of backgrounds with all kinds of medical histories, personal histories, you know? So yes, you need to be, yeah, you need to be prepared for all of that. It's not, it's not a gig where you can sit behind a computer and do some coding or make a few presentations, and that's the end of it. It's a very hands on job. It's a very hands on job. And by hands on, I obviously don't mean hands on in terms of assists. I mean, I mean hands on in terms of, you've got to really get into the nitty gritty of teaching. You've got to understand how to deal with people, how to understand everyone's unique anatomy, how to structure a class in a way that everyone feels inclusive. You need to understand your niche. So over the last three years, I've I've kind of understood that my niche leans towards strength and endurance, more than you know, a slower Yin based class. I realized that my niche lies in strength and endurance, and I try and make my classes very relevant and engaging. So all of this requires a certain level of preparedness. So if you not prepared to do all of this, and of course, if you're not prepared for the wild fluctuations in revenue that can happen from month to month, because this is not a gig that's going to guarantee a fixed revenue every month, your revenue will go up and down depending on, you know, the number of students you're serving, the kind of studio that you're Working with, if at all, or if you're freelancing, the nature of your freelancing gigs, so if you're prepared for all of that, then make the switch otherwise, and go to your job, do your job the best you can, and then wait when the day comes, those of us starting out new I Think similar advice would hold true, but the one thing I would really want to tell the new folks to yoga is just teach as much as you can. Yeah, just teach. You know, there is so much you can learn from teaching that books will not tell you, Okay, you can you can read all the books you want, you can watch all the YouTube videos you want. But nothing replicates the experience of teaching. Believe me, I've learned so much about, say, for instance, doing a simple a cat, cow, a. A posture in the class, you know, a cat cow demonstration. I've had several instances where people have, you know, have been unable to do it because of certain anatomical limitations, people of different age groups, people of different medical conditions, and I've had to modify on the spot for people, okay? And that learning you will not get from books, and you may perhaps not even get from your own teachers. Great. It's just something you have to go out there and do if you want to teach, if you want to become a teacher, you have to teach as much as you can. You know, that's the only thing I would tell people who are starting out in this field new they just go ahead and teach no matter what the teaching gig is, even if there is only one person in the class, make those 60 minutes or 90 minutes count for that one person? Yes, yes. Okay, never, ever think about the number of people in a class. I know it feels a little upsetting when you know the room is large, but you have only one student to teach. I know it can be upsetting at times, especially for the newcomers, but think about it this way, that one person has walked into that space or has come into your zoom class, keeping aside all of his or her other commitments that person's chosen to dedicate those 60 minutes to you. So it's your responsibility to make sure that that person has the best 16 minutes, and that that person walks out feeling amazing after 60 minutes. I mean, even if you put that person through a vigorous like a Vinyasa sequence or a power sequence, it doesn't matter. At the end of the 60 minutes, the person should feel like, you know what this is, the 60 or 90 minutes was worth it. So that's your responsibility as a teacher, is what I would say. I think you hit the nail on the head there. Sons, yeah, I really do, yeah, yeah. It's so important. I noticed it's so classic, like you said, with the large group versus the one, and even the elements say the cat cow. I think, personally, why I love teaching so much is, like, you just think, like, this is gonna be really easy. I'm just gonna show somebody how to do a cat cow. And you look over and they're not able to do it. And then there's maybe that first little bit of like, well, wait, how come they can't do it? But then you actually, well, how can I figure out a way to get them to connect, to actually be able to do what I'm saying? And then can I see the nuances of the maybe, if they can't really move their spine, but I can just try to get them to lift their head a little bit and then redirect what words I'm using to try to convey that is so much fun. It is so much fun. I mean, it really is. It is so enjoyable. And I mean those little sparks that happen in that moment. I mean, that's why, like, I sometimes look at my schedule, it'll be busy, and I'll go, oh boy, this is gonna be a big day, but soon as I start in the morning, and then it goes by so fast because, like, you're interacting with people, it is so much fun. Yeah, and I really like that you're bringing I love everything. I really thank you so much, Sandhya. I love your perspective. You're doing an incredible job, and really well thought out. I have to really, also, I want to compliment your English is amazing. I love listening to you. You have a very you sound great. How many languages do you speak? Because that's one thing I love about India, is I'm so fascinated. When I've been in India, the amount of languages the people I meet, and the amount of languages that people engage with is to me, baffling. And I just, I just love that aspect of of your country and culture. How many other languages? Yeah, I can speak a total of four languages. Wow, Hindi, English and Marathi. Wow. Figure my way out in the southern part of the country, the western part, most of the North and the eastern parts so incredible. I'm good to go in most parts of the country because of the languages that I speak. Yeah, yeah, amazing. Well, I mean another thing I know, we're really close on our time here, we're coming really close to our hour. I guess, instead of taking you down a whole nother track, let's move in the direction of of concluding our conversation, yeah, because I feel like, if I ask you another question, we're gonna it's gonna keep going for a two hour podcast, which I want to do, long winded. No, don't apologize. Sandhya, it's a perfect it's so great. Um, you know, I guess a topic of conversation that here, I just said I wasn't gonna do this, but I have to a topic of conversation here is, I guess, I don't know that a lot of people here in the West really honor and acknowledge the birth. Place of yoga. And so I have a lot of respect for the lineage in like, the amount of years that we like. I sometimes always think to myself, like, how in the world am I involved in yoga? And then I have this appreciation for this tradition that's at least going back 5000 years, very likely, but quite possibly even much longer than that, and here somehow today, like, how did that continue all the way along? And I and then people sometimes come here and say, Oh, yoga is going out of fashion. Now it's Pilates. Now it's hit, you know, hit classes or this or that. And I always think to myself, yoga is never going to go away. Because if yoga is here now and it lasted this long. It's definitely it's got such a solid bedrock that no matter what weather comes, no matter what difficult situations we face, pandemics, wars, yoga is going to continue to endure. I really believe this can can you speak, though, or and maybe in closing, just share your own personal like appreciation for this history. Well, you know, you're right. Yoga is never going to, quote, unquote, go out of fashion, but it depends on how you look at yoga, okay? And like I mentioned in the earlier parts of the conversation, as long as the perspective about yoga is, you know, kept to more than asanas, as long as we're able to approach yoga as a way of life. It's never going to go out of fashion, because the way people perceive yoga today, they only perceive it in the in the light of asanas. And like I mentioned, asanas are very limiting. You know, they're just a drop in the ocean, and it's a complex world, and there's always room to and there's always a risk of making people feel excluded because they're not able to do asanas. And I suspect that the popularity of other forms of physical exercise is also because a lot of people started to feel excluded because they were not able to perform some of these complex postures, you know, with very questionable functional benefits, if you ask me. And so I feel like a lot of them did want to move their bodies. Did want to feel like, you know, there was scope to explore the limits of their physical capabilities, but they felt like yoga was was perhaps very hard for them to reach. So they had to perhaps go or invent or devise other forms of movement which borrowed from yoga, a little bit borrowed from the gym world, a little bit from other disciplines, a little bit, and it's okay, as long as people find joy in movement, you know, as long as people find joy in doing what they're doing, the foundation, then always goes back to yoga. And I'll give you a very and I'll close with a very interesting perspective on this. Okay, it might seem controversial, but here's what it is. Now, I enjoy weight lifting quite a lot. Okay, I discovered weight lifting about two years ago, and I had a bunch of great coaches who taught me how to lift weights correctly and safely without putting myself at any risk of injury, and I have grown to fall in love with it all right? And does that make me a bad yogi? I doubt it. Why? Because let's take the example of a dead lift. You know, a movement where you've loaded some pretty heavy weights onto a barbell, and you've got to execute a movement where you're lifting that bubble up with some pretty heavy weights on both sides. Now, when I execute that movement, I am completely aware of each and every part of my body. I am completely in focus. I can't hear anything around me. I can't see anything around me. I'm in a state of absolute concentration when I'm executing that movement. So in a sense, I'm in a state of perfect Dhyana when I'm in that movement, right when I'm executing it, and I'm in complete connection with my body. So yoga I'm in I'm in complete yoga with my body. I'm in complete union with my muscles, my my form, my technique. Everything is on point. Is all coming together. And then when I do execute that lift, and it happens well, for me, okay, I end up feeling a brief moment of joy, okay, which, which is almost meditative, of sorts, and then I release the bubble, or I drop it on the floor. So isn't that a way of approaching movement, but from a yogic lens, it's a way of approaching anything and everything that you do in day to day life, keeping the principles of yoga intact, and as long as you're able to do that, Yoga will never go out of fashion. It is not just about the asana, it is not just about the belts and the blocks and the leggings and the sports. Those things will come and go, and it's important. You've got to commercialize certain aspects of things, because it benefits a lot of people. But at the core of it, if you look at yoga as a way to connect with yourself, to truly understand your true nature, to become aware of who you are, what your shortcomings are, what your strengths are. How do you self regulate? Okay, how do you approach moments of good, moments of bad? How are you able to maintain calmness in the face of chaos. How are you able to maintain a sense of balance in your life, as long as you approach every single thing you do in life with this lens? This lens is yoga, yes, and I'd like to close with that. Thank you so much. Sandhya, I love it. Great job. I really appreciate your insights, and I so thankful for you to share your love and passion for yoga with us. I think it's inspirational, motivational from the realm of being able to make a living as a yoga teacher, as well as like, really falling in love with yoga and the passion for sharing it with others is really inspirational. So this has been a true treat. And thank you for joining me from the other side of the world. You know, I keep having this thought, like, I I'm said, like, over here in the west and over there in India, I feel like maybe the east and the west eventually it's not going to really exist anymore. Like we're all going to be kind of one. It's going to come it's combining. We're connecting and combining. And it's like, so I, I'm glad we're in that part of that, that phase, this phase of, like, the evolution of humanity, yeah, yeah, I know. And I'm very glad that you, you're aware of some of the deeper aspects about our culture and traditions. I'm very glad that you're able to say some of the Sanskrit names of asanas. So, so well. And it's, it's very humbling to see that, you know, our culture and tradition is getting the kind of respect and love that it deserves from across the world. And you know, I would be very happy to meet you if you're in India. Thank you. Soon, I would be very happy to, you know, show you around. I would be happy to introduce you to some of the the amazing food that we have, the amazing music that we have, all of that. So next time India do, let me know. I'd be very happy to, oh, that's so good. Kind of you. Thank you. Sanja, I love India. I have been to Bangalore. And last time we went to India, my wife and my son, we went to Goa and spent a month and but I would love to come back to Bangalore or South India, and have a tour guide who and take us to the best places to eat and oh my gosh, and have a and have a translator who can explain to me everything that's going on. Oh my gosh. Well, thank you. Well, what a treat. Thank you Sandhya. I can't wait to come to come visit you. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you Todd for this lovely conversation. I really enjoyed the time spent here. I wish we had time to speak more. And you know, I'm sharing my perspectives as someone who's just entered the field, and I'm sure my perspectives will change over a period of time, but as long as the foundation is clear and the the reason for existence is clear, I think it's all good to go, but I'm really, really glad you reached out to me. I'm really glad we had this conversation. Really appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Have a great day ahead. You too. Yeah. Native yoga Todd cast is produced by myself. The theme music is dreamed up by Bryce Allen. If you like this show, let me know if there's room for improvement. I want to hear that too. We are curious to know what you think and what you want more of what I can improve and. If you have ideas for future guests or topics, please send us your thoughts to info at Native yoga center. You can find us at Native yoga center.com, and hey, if you did like this episode, share it with your friends. Rate it and review and join us next time you for you know you.